The Beacons played an uninspired brand of baseball April 22 at Curry College, losing to the Colonels 7-2. The loss drops the Beacons to 12-18, a disappointing record for the team three-quarters of the way through their season.
Curry jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first after an error and a walk placed two runners in scoring position for the Colonels best hitter, leftfielder David Vincent.
The senior, batting .495 coming into the game, delivered once again for Curry, singling to left and plating both runners.
After the early lead, however, Beacons right-hander Tom Michael settled down and began to mow through the Colonel lineup until they added one more run in the fifth inning.
Michael finished with 7 innings pitched, allowing three earned runs, while striking out six.
Colonel starting pitcher Dan Gaugan set the Beacons down in quick order, retiring the first 10 batters he faced before freshman Ryan Walsh doubled with one away in the fourth.
The Beacons got hot in the fifth, with third baseman Mike Dorval and Matt Reich advancing to scoring position with only one out. However, the Beacons were stranded at third and second, adding to the offensive frustration.
The Beacons mustered a comeback effort in the top of the sixth, scoring twice using the middle of their lineup. Freshman Walsh walked, and catcher Tim Fontaine singled to left, setting up the hottest Beacon bat, first baseman Eric Salvador.
The junior nailed his eleventh double of the season to drive in Walsh, and Dorval followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Fontaine.
However, the Beacons were done scoring after the sixth, leaving no chance for a come-from-behind win. The Beacons left runners in scoring position in every inning from the sixth to the eighth, unable to come up with a big hit to turn the contest around.
The Beacons also struck out eight times against only one walk, leaving no chance for a big inning based on a patient offensive approach.
The Colonels piled on three more runs on only two hits in the eighth inning, taking advantage of a shaky defense that committed three errors on the day.
Mike Cain got two outs in the eighth before giving way to captain Anthony Lauretto, who induced an inning-ending ground ball with runners at second and third to stop the scoring.